<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Becoming Free by CrownedinIvy</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24292552">Becoming Free</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrownedinIvy/pseuds/CrownedinIvy'>CrownedinIvy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Becoming Free [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Cultural Differences, Force Works in Mysterious Ways, Gen, Tatooine Slave Culture, We forge our own destiny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:15:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,101</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24292552</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrownedinIvy/pseuds/CrownedinIvy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shmi Sky Walker was never meant to be a slave and certainly wasn't going to let her son remain one. The Jetii aren't welcome to her son anymore than the slavers of the galaxy are.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Becoming Free [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2052489</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>316</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     Shmi Skywalker wasn’t quite sure what it meant to be a good person; to be honest she wasn’t sure she knew what it meant to be a person anymore. Shmi did know one thing for certain and it was this: Anakin Skywalker wasn’t meant to be enslaved. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The name Skywalker was the Basic version of their family’s title. The Sky Walkers, some said they were descended from the desert tricksters, others said they were simply a different kind of thief. Sky Walkers were neither of those things as far as Shmi knew; they were wanderers. And certainly many were trickster and thieves as is wont for many wanderers, but they were always meant to bring freedom, to be freedom. They were meant to for the oppposite of slavery. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Anakin was a surprise to Shmi. She’d always been good at math and the timing was wrong. Not impossible, but still wrong and so Shmi never thought about trying to reach out to any former liaison or master. Anakin shouldn’t by all the reason in the galaxy exist, but he did. He came into the world just as any other humanoid did; screaming for air. Then later, Shmi noticed he was not just another humanoid and started planning for the return of the Sky Walker. For there would be freedom for her son, or so help her, she’d burn the galaxy down.</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>     Anakin was four and they were still trapped on Tatooine, but life was getting better. Shmi had taught Anakin how to speak with the compulsion she’d seen Jetii use on a mid rim world as a teenager and they’d used it to be sold to Watto. The Toydarian was odd; not a good person, since he was still a slave owner, but nearly as bad as he could’ve been. He’d been brainwashed by the spice that swirled in Tatooine’s air into thinking that slavery was just the way life was. Not good, not bad, just existence. Shmi could work with that. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Besides Watto owned a junk shop and Anakin had a gift with machines. Her son would need a trade to support himself and mechanic was one that had a low risk of damaging his mind and soul. Shmi knew what was starting to happen to the other boy Anakin played with on occasion; that was not going to happen to her son. If she could manage it, the boy, Kitster, would be coming with them when they left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Then Anakin had a dream, that wasn’t a dream, but something much worse. Shmi’s father had called it “Seeing Beyond the Horizon”, the delphiains called Oracle, and Shmi was willing to bet that Jetii had a name for it though she didn’t know what it was. Anakin saw a future where he was not a Sky Walker like Shmi intended, but a Jetii and then a Darjetii. A future where he was but a monster in a shell who did more harm than any slaver on Tatooine. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Shmi made Anakin draw her the schematics for the ship that came and all the major people involved that started this future so she would know what to be on guard against. Because the Sky Walkers had a saying “We write the Stars”. Seeing beyond the horizon was just that, seeing the danger before it arrived and planning accordingly. Ynne, Kitser’s mother, and Gida, another slave, agreed to help Shmi with the plan she was making. There would be freedom for the clan they were forming. Shmi could taste it. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>     Names matter, Anakin knew this more than most people. Names matter because they were one of the few things that masters couldn’t take away. Sure they could call you by another name, but you had yours and no one could steal it. Names were a gift and sign of family.Anakin’s own name was what made him so important to family and vice versa. “Upon family” anakin meant family leader, patriarch or matriarch, and guide. So Anakin built a family for his mom. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Anakin knew that many people thought his family was just mom. A few of the Loca thought Watto would count and maybe one day he would--not likely, but possible. Anakin knew they were wrong. Anakin’s family was Mom, Kitster and Ynne, Wald, Gida, Koyi, Ka’na, Arwynne, Beru and Bren, and Solo. But they certainly weren’t a family like the ones in stories from the Core worlds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Ynne and Kitster were mother and son, like Anakin and his mom, but they weren’t born into slavery. They were sold by Kitser’s dad to pay off the Hutts and Anakin would hate him on Kitser’s behalf forever and day. Anakin hadn’t chosen them specifically, but he made sure to keep them. The glow strings that tied them together, that Anakin could only see when he felt really disconnected--Mom called it his Sky Vision--grew thicker the more time they spent together. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>      Wald had another family, but they weren’t good, so Anakin had decided when Kits had first brought him to play, he was keeping him. Anakin had just found Gida, who made mom smile and told good stories, so he decided she would be Wald’s new mom. Anakin didn’t see why a Twi’lek dancer who was starting to get “too old” couldn’t be a great mom to the Rodian boy. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Next came Koyi, who was also a Twi’lek, but she stabbed the last master who tried to make her dance. Anakin had actually given Koyi her name, which he’d found in an old flimsy in the junk shop.  Koyi had met Anakin and Kitser when they were rescuing the other kids from Dug and hadn’t gone away. Serpent was the perfect name for the slippery girl who was never in one place long enough for someone to realize she was a runaway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     At that same time, Anakin found Arwynne, a Ghostling, that Dug had stolen from Jabba and was planning on selling. She’d also been among the group of kids Anakin had helped escape Dug, but she had no way home to Datar. Trapped on a planet that was honestly killing her, she’d given Anakin knowledge in exchange for using the knowledge to save her. Apparently, Jedi--mom called them Jetii, Anakin wasn’t sure why--had healing powers. Arwynne seemed to think that Anakin was a young Jedi--Mom had vetoed that, said that he was going to be a Sky Walker--and had told him how to heal her. Anakin had slept for 3 whole days after trying it the first time. 2 more attempts and he’d managed to actually heal her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Beru and Bren were free sister and brother, children of former reformers who spent most of their time in the catina. Mom had brought them back to slave quarters when their parents lost their home. No one was quite sure what had happened to them, but Beru and Bren were old enough to work the moisture farms ensuring that their clan had enough water. Anakin thought that Beru and Bren were pretty great, even though they were definitely not Sky Walkers. Bren’s greatest dream was to own a moisture farm!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Lastly there was Solo, the other slave owned by Watto. Anakin was almost a hundred percent certain that the old human had another name, but knew better than to push. At first Solo had been stand-offish, but Watto had insisted that he bunk with Shmi and Anakin. Anakin had threatened to stab him if he touched Shmi, but the man had just laughed. Now, Solo was still grim, but he smiled and taught Anakin and the other kids how to fight like only a </span>
  <span>wee shahnit could</span>
  <span>, but he still slept in the doorway and stared at the old flimsy paper with the picture of the little girl when he got sad. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Anakin thought he’d built a pretty good family considering that he was only 8 years old. Mom had taken the old drawings of the people from his first episode of Seeing Over the Horizon, but Anakin had had Arwynne write down the names of the ones he’d be going to get from then. He probably wouldn’t remember them, he’d been so young, but Mom always asked about them, so he never forgot. Padme, his angel, Obi Wan, his guide-brother, Rex, the slave boy who was a soldier, but too young, and Asoka, his sister-to-guide. Anakin didn’t need to find his step-father, he knew Beru was already working on that. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>     Anakin Sky Walker won his first pod race, to the horror of every single spectator. (His family wasn’t allowed to watch.) There was exactly two people who’d bet that Anakin would win the race, and they were Solo and Anakin himself. Solo had placed the 200 cho mar bet with a bookie and promptly broke the poor scam artist when he had to pay 3600 back to a slave. Anakin had made a bet with Watto; if Anakin won the race, he won his freedom. Watto was ecstatic, since the prize money was enormous, but very angry to have lost Anakin and another 1000 cho mar on Dug. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Anakin was free, to a certain extent. He holds his own detonator anyway, but Watto still owns Mom and Solo and most of the rest of his family is still enslaved. So he can’t really change anything. That’s not going to stop him, though; he had his detonator and from the detonator he can get the frequency of his specific slave chip and the range of possible frequencies. He can find the chips and that’s half the battle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He talks to Arwynne and Koyi about finding a surgeon or a med droid or anything that’s halfway qualified to actually remove the karking chips. He also asks Gida to keep an ear out. Kitser and Wald go scourging with him hunting for med droids. It took them three months to get a functional med droid and a spice-addled surgeon, but they managed it. It took another two months to get the man sober enough to perform surgery and apparently there was other supplies they would need to remove the chips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>So Anakin made another gamble and bought the parts he’d need to fix the fast approaching J-type 327 Nubian. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Yours, But Not to Keep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Anakin planned ahead and Qui Gon realizes how fast Obi Wan will have to grow up</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     Obi Wan Kenobi was not your average Jedi padawan, but even he thought this mission was getting out of hand. The only upside so far was that his Master hadn’t handed him an animal to be responsible for--well Jar Jar was close enough. Now Master Qui Gon had them stuck with half the Nubian Court on Tatooine. The Captain of the Guard and Qui Gon were arguing about who should go to Mos Espa,the nearby port to look for the parts needed to repair the ship. Obi Wan for his part was dutifully supporting his master.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Except he wasn't, actually. Obi wan was attempting to swat away a niggling presence within the force. But it was growing stronger by the second, almost as if the presence was coming closer. He knew Qui Gon’s opinions on the Unifying force, but Obi Wan felt similar to when he’d first met Qui Gon; that deep seated sense of rightness being near him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Padawan are you listening?” Obi Wan heard Qui Gon’s voice, but he sounded to be under water. Obi Wan had to get to that other person, it was a person, he was certain. He needed him, it was a boy, not quite an adolescent but nearing. Obi Wan started going through the motions of leaving the ship. Once the doors finally opened he raced out to catch the boy who’d thrown himself into Obi Wan’s arms. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>     “I knew you’d come,” the boy whispered clutching Obi Wan tight. Obi Wan held the boy to his chest and let to warmth and love and hope the boy radiated wash over him. “I knew it. Mom didn’t want you to, but you had to. I need you and you need me. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Aliit ori'shya tal'din</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and family means no one is alone.” </span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>     Qui Gon Jinn was a fairly patient man; it was the natural consequence of adopting strays. But the Nubian Captain and the Queen, disguised as one of her handmaidens, were truly starting to grate on his nerves. He hadn’t even noticed something was off with his padawan until the Queen had asked what Obi Wan thought he was doing. Obi Wan had ignored her and then ignored Qui Gon--not something Qui Gon thought would ever happen again and had it been under different circumstances, possibly would have been delighted by--and exited the ship. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Obi Wan was holding a youngling and just aways off in the distance, Qui Gon could see more younglings pulling a sled. Focusing, he could see that the sled held  machinery and parts of a space vessel. Though he couldn’t make out exactly what the parts were, Qui Gon felt they were the parts they needed to repair the ship. Curiously, he reached out into the living force and promptly was hit with one of the greatest highs of his life. The boy in Obi Wan’s arms was a presence unlike any Qui Gon had ever felt. The closest he could imagine would be if Master Yoda dropped all of his shields. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Thanks for your help, Ani! Loca Kung!” shouted the Twi’lek girl. The boy in Obi Wan’s arms--Ani--laughed. Nimbly he scrambled down and raced back to where his friends were. He never let go of Obi Wan though, and Qui Gon’s poor padawan stumbled after. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The next few hours were a blur; the boy, Ani was apparently the defacto leader of this band of younglings and adolescents, which seemed odd as he was one of the youngest. His second however, was the Twi’lek girl, called Koyi, and she was definitely the oldest member at age 12. Kits, the other human boy, and Arawynne, the Ghostling girl, both fell between Ani and Koyi in age and the poor Rodian boy, Wald was just a little younger than Ani. Of course, Qui Gon could be wrong about all of this because not a single child had actually introduced themselves before they barge onto the ship and began making a nuisance of themselves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    That also wasn’t quite fair, Qui Gon knew as both Ani and Kits were now in the bowels of the ship attempting to fix and replace the hyperdrive. Wald, Koyi, and Arawynne were the ones racing around. Arawynne had instantly pegged Padmé as the Queen and began negotiations with her with all the grace of a Princess. Qui Gon made a note to run a check to see if she matched the description of one of the four missing Princesses once they returned to Corasunt. The negotiations were somewhat alarming, though; apparently the children wanted to raid the med bay of ship in order to set up a surgery on the planet. Arawynne didn’t explain why they needed a surgery, but the way all the children except Ani clung to the signal scramblers they each had, Qui Gon was certain they were slaves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Koyi and Wald were not waiting for Arawynne’s negotiations to end. They had already started making off with any medical equipment not nailed down. Koyi was also doing a good job of acting as a bodyguard for the others; Standing menacingly behind Arawynne, checking in on Wald, and ensuring Ani and Kits took proper safety protocols. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You can’t stick your head into the ball of sparking wires, without a helmet on!” was heard more than once from the poor Twi’lek girl. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Obi Wan seemed content to just sit while Ani worked, but was never far from the boy. Had they been in the temple, Qui Gon would have pulled Obi Wan aside to speak with the boy’s clan head and the creche master, because Obi Wan was clearly this boy’s future master. In this made up universe, Qui Gon would have felt pangs of loss, because he’d have rushed Obi Wan to his trials within the next 6 months, rather than the year he’d allotted his apprentice, so that Obi Wan could take the next year or two to establish himself as a Knight before he took on Ani’s training. As difficult as that would have been for Qui Gon, he’d have much preferred it to the situation he found himself in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Ani needed training, but he was too old to be admitted to the creche, so Obi Wan would need to take him as an apprentice to even allow for the boy to be admitted to the order. Entry as a Padwan was rare, but often resulting in some of the most notable Jedi in history. That meant that instead of having another 6 months to a year to see Obi Wan to his trials, Qui Gon was going to have to throw his apprentice into them as soon as they reach the temple and once Obi Wan passed--Qui Gon had no doubt Obi Wan would pass, the only issues Obi Wan could still lay claim to was his abhorrently low self-esteem and work-aholic tendencies--he would have to immediately claim Ani. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     A sudden jarring in the force pulled Qui Gon out of his musing and planning. His apprentice felt it too, wincing hard and Qui Gon was fairly certain that Ani felt it too. The boy practically jumped out of the access panel when it first hit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “What’s that?” Ani asked, clearly panicked. “Is that one of you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “No, that’s not one of us,” Obi Wan assured him and looked to Qui Gon, the question coming through their bond, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Do you know of any Fallen in this sector?</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>     No, my padwan, but we are in Hutt territory, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Qui Gon answered, silently. Then aloud he continued. “How soon will be able to take off, Ani?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      “If you guys need to, as soon as we get off with whatever gear Arawynne managed to swindle from you,” Kits answered as he dropped from the panel he’d been hanging from. Qui Gon tensed at that; he’d yet to figure out why this children would remain on this planet as slaves.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Are your parents expecting you?” Obi Wan asked lightly as he pulled Anakin close. Qui Gon saw the glow of the boy’s force presence being gently wrapped by Obi Wan’s shields to block out the Dark. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Mom’s at the shop with Solo today,” Ani said, “But Gida’s at home for Wald and Ynne’s going to be home soon. Koyi are Arawynne typically bunk with me or at Gida’s when they can. But that’s not what you wanted to really know?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “No,” Obi Wan smiled, but it was a pale comparison to the young man’s usual radiant grin. “I--”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     But Obi Wan was cut off by the shuttering of the ship. Qui Gon signalled to Obi Wan to stay with the boys and ran to the pilot deck, shouting for them to initiate the take off sequence immediately. As he did Qui Gon kept watch on his soon-to-be-Knight and future grandpadawan through the Living Force and mourned time that had never been his with Obi Wan</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah, I couldn't leave it alone. Probably gonna get through the Phantom Menance</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Remembering the Future</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>8 Centuries is a long time and genocide has rarely if ever been wholly effective. Yoda remembers the Sky Walkers.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>      Yoda, grandmaster of the Jedi Order, had been alive for a long time and often that had advantages. Right now though Master Yoda wasn’t sure what he had was an advantage. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     As a child Yoda had heard tales of the Sky Walkers and as a young, but mature sentient he’d had the pleasure of fighting beside one of the last Sky Walkers. They’d been great travelers and freedom fighters; some force sensitive, others not; but he nearly choked when the young leader of the slave clan had introduced himself as Anakin the Sky Walker and was so present in the Force it rattled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Sky Walker, you claim to be,” Yoda said over Mace who’d been objecting to the presence of the children. “Why then, bound remains your clan?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The boy flushed and the Force swept up in his, not anger, but frustration/disappointment/concern. Very complex emotions for a human boy not yet in final growth. Odd, but perhaps it would save him from the Dark.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Freeing my family is my top priority, Consular* Jedi,” Anakin said, very slowly as if he was checking with someone about the words. Yoda delved into the Unifying Force and nearly felt his heart stop. The boy had built bonds with each of his clanmates, which wasn’t unusual though they were strong. No, his concern came from the training bond that connected the young Sky Walker to Padawan Kenobi!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “I sought to trade with the Naboo vessel for the last bits of medical equipment we needed to start removing the chips, but the apprentice darjetii showed up earlier than he was supposed to!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Darjetii?” asked Kit Fisto. Yoda sighed and released his irritation to the force. He held the concern until his grandpadawans confirmed the boy’s statement. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Mandalorian for Sith,” Qui Gon explained. “Literally it means opposite Jedi. And while I cannot confirm without a doubt that it was a Sith, but it was the most skilled Dark Side user I’ve ever felt.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Yoda took a deep breath and surveyed the others on the Council. This was going to be a long meeting. And knowing his grandpadawan as he did, Qui Gon was going to demand admission to the order for the young Sky Walker which was going to be catastrophic. Jedi could be Sky Walkers, Yoda remembered such a knight from 6 or 7 centuries back, but could one raised as a Sky Walker be a Jedi?</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>     “It’s going to be okay, I promise!” Anakin was desperately whispering to Arawynne as she sobbed into his shoulder. They were hidden in the Temple library, while the others set the Jetii on a wild Clawbird chase. Because the lung jetii had called the Ghostling embassy and now there was an ambassador set to take Arawynne home. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Anakin wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do; on one hand Arawyne was his, she belonged with their clan, but that didn’t mean she had to physically be with their clan. And Datar would be better for Arawynne’s health with its lower temperatures and gravity. Arawynne though did not want to leave them, as close as they were to getting freedom, and if she returned to her home planet she wouldn’t be allowed to leave. She was a princess and the royals were not permitted to leave Datar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      “Correct, your clan guide is.” Anakin looked up to see the little green troll who’d questioned him in the Council Chamber. They’d called him Master Yoda, but Obi Wan had said the Consular Jedi was an acceptable title as well. That was good because Anakin wasn’t calling anyone “master” ever again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Arawynne shifted away from Anakin’s shoulder to look at the Jetii, her face streaked with tears, but she held her chin high. Anakin felt a swell of pride for his princess; she’d come so far from the cowering little Emeela he’d rescued. She was such a resilient person and he’d hate to lose her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Have you Seen Beyond the Horizon, Consular Jedi?” Anakin asked. Yoda snickered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Been too long, it has, since I heard last the words of a Sky Walker,” Yoda answered, and Anakin felt the nostalgia swirl around the ancient being. “Seen, I have not, but know it true. Claim her you have and attached she is. Hold still the Laws of the Old Repulbic do on matters of the Sky Walker clans. Freed her you have and with you she remained. Dissolved other claims, this has.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Anakin took a minute to work through the Jetii’s words. He had difficulty understanding the way Consular Yoda spoke, but  Arawynne figured it out more quickly. Must be a Core thing, Anakin figured. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Because I choose to stay with the Skywalkers for the last 2 years, I get to be a Sky Walker forever?” she asked and Anakin felt her hope swell, leaving him tingling all over. Consular Yoda nodded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>      “Pulling the records, Obi Wan is. Send them with you, we will. Belongs to you, your history does,” Yoda assured them. “Thieves, we are not. Slavers, we are not. Hold you we will not. Made to wander and free, you were.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>      “Come,” Yoda turned and began to walk. “See healers we must, before return you, we can.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So this is a fun light story and I'm enjoying it. Sorry about this issue with the completion thingie, I have no clue what happened. </p><p>Anyway, Anakin may be a headache and a half for Mace Windu, but Yoda remembers and felt the loss of the Sky Walkers a little over 6 centuries ago. He'd really like them back now, but isn't thrilled with Obi Wan and Anakin's bond.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Earning their Name</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     As they finally headed back to the slave quarters on Tatooine, the young Sky Walker clan took a vote and unanimously agreed that they weren’t telling the adults what had happened while they were off planet. And if they thought they could get away with it, they weren’t telling the adults they left the planet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Kitster wasn’t sure how he could tell Mom how much he loved flying. That it was better than he remembered and if he could choose, he’d never be dirtside again. His dad talked like that and his dad was the person who’d hurt Mom the most. But out there in the stars the broken feelings he’d been having since he’d started working in the palace went away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Arawynne knew what Lady Sky Walker and Gida would say if they found out she’d renounced her title as princess. She could do so much as a ruler of a planet, but she couldn’t leave them. They were clan, family, light. How could she leave them and never be able to know if they were alright? It would have killed her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Wald was going to be in so much trouble with Gida. She worried about him when he didn’t come home. His owner and his parents did things, bad things, that scared her almost as much as they scared him. The Jetii, the little green one, had told him that he didn’t need to be afraid, though. He needed to fight like Solo taught them, like Anakin did whenever someone was in trouble. And Wald was going to do just that, after he got Gida to hug him for a very long time. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Koyi was disturbed by what had happened on the other planet. She’d always been the practical one, her feet planted, always knowing exactly how best to look out for herself and occasionally her clan. But when the Jetii needed helped, the one who didn’t call himself  </span>
  <em>
    <span>Master, </span>
  </em>
  <span>she’d broken her rules. She did something risky, something dangerous, for someone who wasn’t part of their clan. She’d sliced the lock and managed to get the lazer-sheildy thing to go away so he could save the older Jetii. Koyi wasn’t sure what that meant for her future. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Anakin was thrilled by their trip; it had been a huge success, but he really didn’t want to tell mom about it. Mom had repeatedly drilled him on why he couldn’t trust the Jetii and why he was never going to become one. And if she thought podracing was too dangerous, he didn’t want to consider what her reaction to him flying a fighter in an active space battle would be. He also knew that she was probably going to find out eventually. Obi Wan would be arriving in a few weeks to give Anakin a crash course in </span>
  <span>Weird Jetii Kyorar* before moving onto his next assignment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The little clan agreed on one other thing: they’re freed a whole frippin’ planet. They’d earned the name of Sky Walker.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>* Madalorian for Rot/decay. Basically Anakin is saying weird Jedi shit</p><p>Writing battle scenes is hard and this whole thing is supposed to be low brain power, so basically the kids tagged along to Naboo and generally contributed to crushing the Trade Federation. As a reward, Queen Amidala sends them home with a fully stocked medical ship. The revolution is coming. </p><p>Up next Obi Wan Kenobi, newly Knighted Jedi, vs Shmi Don't-Touch-My-Kid Skywalker</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Beginning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Shmi and Obi Wan chat.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     Obi Wan Kenobi was facing the most difficult negotiations of his career as a Jedi Knight. That said he’d been a Knight for all of week, so maybe things would get more difficult. He certainly hoped they wouldn’t as the matriarch of the Sky Walkers slammed a cup of Honey Mesquite Tea in front of him. Apparently this particular Sky Walker subscribed to more aggressive negotiation tactics than her son. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Talk Jetii,” commanded Shmi Skywalker as she took her seat across from him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “First, may I thank you for the tea?” Obi Wan asked. Yoda had stressed the importance of asking rather than telling with the Sky Walkers. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “You may not,” Shmi answered. “But it is noted. You want my son?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Obi Wan mentally counted to ten and then back to one. This was a woman who was meant to be wander the galaxy, whose mission it was to keep her family--whomever she chose as family--together and free and until recently she’d been bound in slavery and at the mercy of others. And she was only free because her son had deliberately disobeyed her and endangered his life by associating with the Jedi. Patience was paramount. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “The Jedi do not steal children, Matriarch Sky Walker. Might I enquire if you spent some time on Mandalore? Your name for the jedi would suggest it and I may be able to explain from the Jedi side that particular conflict,” Obi Wan offered. Shmi regarded him coolly, but Obi Wan thought he felt a flash of satisfaction from the woman. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Neither I, nor my son is Mando’a, but Sky Walkers spent several generations comingling with them when they fought the Republic’s subjugation and later when we were at odds with them over the slave trade,” Shmi said after a moment. Obi Wan nodded and sipped his tea, it tasted similar to the vanilla of Stewjon. “I’m surprised you recognize the language, it’s not common outside of their system.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “I spent a year of my service with the Jedi working to ensure that a dictatorship did not conquer the planet. I became rather close friends with the Duchess, though we disagree on the need for force in a conflict,” Obi Wan answered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Hmm,” Shmi said and for the next several moments they simply sat in silence. Almost in silence, Obi Wan could hear as well as feel Anakin and Koyi just on the other side of the door scrambling to try and listen. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Matriarch Sky Walker, if you would allow me to instruct Anakin in the ways of the Force, I would most appreciate it. In exchange,” Obi Wan placed his right palm over the center of his chest, requesting her compassion. “I would serve your family as a guard for the next year. As a Jedi if you would allow me, as a fellow force sensitive if you would not.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Shmi smiled and gently pulled Obi Wan’s hand to her throat, a symbol of trust.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     “Welcome to Sky Walker clan, Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi,” Shmi said. “Now we’ll discuss the Tatooine liberation movement and how it may affect your time with us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>     Anakin came flying threw the door and threw himself at Obi Wan. His guide brother was home, at least for now. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this was supposed to be up for May the 4th. (Yeah that didn't happen; I worked on Runaway in stead.)</p>
<p>Basically the idea behind this was instead of using Skywalker as a title for one person, which I've seen plenty of fanfics do, it was the name of a culture. The Sky Walkers weren't all force-sensitive, those Shmi's family had a history of it and when Shmi realized that her son had inherited her grandfather's talent, she knew he couldn't stay sane on Tatooine. </p>
<p>Anakin grows up knowing that he's meant for bigger things and with the help of his found family he goes after it.<br/>There's an outline for a couple more one shots in this universe, but nothing coming soon.<br/>Remember: wash your hands!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>